The End
by Out Of Sheol
Summary: While in human form, Inuyasha and group awaken an old foe that is protected by a curse which states that no son of Izayoi can destroy him…As death draws near Inuyasha’s fate rests in the one individual who can save him, his brother.
1. The Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha – obviously…

Warning: Language and violence (just to be sure)

Criticism: Well I am finally posting. I wrote this story a while ago (last December actually). I've never posted anything before so I decided to test the water with this story. Please, comments would be great! I take all criticisms (though, where and how I can improve are always more effective–obviously). However, anything goes; just tell me what you think.

Author's Note: I wrote this to examine the relationship between Inuyasha and his brother Sesshoumaru. I've split it up into four parts, which are roughly the same length. I plan on posting twice a week, if possible. The story is complete (just for clarification purposes), however I just thought I would space it out so it's not such a mouthful.

* * *

**The End**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End.**

Inuyasha collapsed to the ground. Blood trailed down from his nose, passing over his lips, before it curved down his chin and fell to the floor only inches below.

"_Dammit."_ Inuyasha thought, pulling himself off of the ground yet again and readying his dull-bladed sword towards the approaching demon. His shoulder ached; the wound from where the demon's flame had hit it smelt of burnt flesh.

Inuyasha touched his fire-rat hitoe (cloak-like jacket) that should have been protecting his shoulder; instead he felt bare and bruised skin. _"This should have been enough to protect me from his attack?!"_

The demon seemed to notice Inuyasha's confusion, and its smile widened.

"You are no match for my power, _human_." The demon sent another breath filled with white-hot flames towards Inuyasha; its lips curving into a sneer as it watched the human barely dodge out of the way.

"Dammit," Inuyasha said, this time the curse found its way to his lips. _"Damn this human body, I can't go on like this for much longer."_

"I am quite enjoying this." The large demon said. "You look so much like her now, a weak, pitiful _human_." Then from the demon's outstretched palm shot out what looked to be tiny, lethally-sharp daggers.

At first, Inuyasha raised the Tetsusaiga in front of his face to block the attack. However, the thin, rusted blade didn't look thick enough to shield him from the demon's blast. Without another thought, Inuyasha dropped to the ground, quickly rolling out of the way of the attack, holding the sword slightly in front of him so as to avoid cutting himself with his own weapon.

The weight of the blast shook the ground. Where Inuyasha had previously been standing the ground had been dented into a medium-sized crater; thick, black smoke hissed out of it. Quickly, Inuyasha sprung to his feet and once again resumed fighting form.

"She was mine, you know."

"Shut it!" Inuyasha said, "Don't think I give a damn about yer stupid story."

At this the demon only smiled. "But you _should_ give a damn, for is your own mother that I speak of."

Inuyasha only growled.

"I was quite enjoying myself as I tortured her; almost as satisfying as watching your futile efforts."

"You know," continued the demon, "She was about the age of that girl you had with you."

"_Kagome."_ Inuyasha started to think, however he didn't have much time to continue that thought as another blaze of fire short forth from the demon's mouth. This time green, smoke-like ooze accompanied it.

His human strength waning, Inuyasha barely dogged the attack; his right foot up to his ankle catching full blast of the green ooze.

"Aah!" Even powerful (and proud) as he was, Inuyasha couldn't stop himself from crying out as the green ooze settled into his skin. Reflexively, Inuyasha rubbed the area from his ankle down to his heal, but quickly pulled his hand away both from the increased pain that came from touching it and also from the sight before him. Where the green ooze had settled, his skin had begun to rot.

"What the hell?"

"What's the matter, Inuyasha?" The demon said. "Feeling the pain of your mortality, are you?" The demon blew a wave of scorching, white flames encircling Inuyasha as he was bent down examining the wound.

"_Shit, I'm trapped,"_ Inuyasha thought, realizing his error a moment too late.

* * *

Kagome tried yet again to pull her hand away from Tekyou's death grip; yet the older woman's grasp seemed impossible to break.

"Tekyou-chan, please, let go of my hand." Kagome said, "I can't just leave Inuyasha when he is fighting!"

"Kagome, I've told you once before," said Tekyou, not looking back as she continued to pull Kagome farther away from the sounds of Inuyasha and the demon; "He's only half-human; he isn't really worth dying over."

"Hey!" Shippou said, still clinging desperately onto Kagome's shoulder, "Humans aren't the only ones who wanna' live you know."

"Stop saying things like that Tekyou-chan." Kagome said, this time dragging her feet to the point that she was in danger of tripping, "Besides, right now Inuyasha is human; he needs my arrows to help fight against this demon."

Yet try as she might, Tekyou was the stronger of the two. No matter how desperate Kagome might be she still could not break her hand free.

"Don't forget Kagome," Tekyou said, "It was the half-breed's idea that we should leave him behind anyway."

"_Damn half-demon,"_ Tekyou thought; _"Not that he had to tell me that."_ Kagome's dead weight was becoming harder for her to drag.

"Yeah well, we don't really listen to him anyway," said Shippou, "Besides, Tekyou why are you running away, it's your fault that we're in this mess to begin with?!"

"If it weren't for Inuyasha you'd already be dead by now." Shippou continued, practically yelling to be heard above the sounds of the battle they were running away from.

"Listen to me, Kagome," Tekyou started, ignoring Shippou completely.

Then "Shippou-chan do something!" said Kagome.

Next thing Tekyou knew the little fox demon had crossed the hand bridge connecting her to Kagome and had propped himself up on her shoulder.

"Already on it," said Shippou; Tekyou instinctively swatted him off. Or tried to anyway; the child was faster than even she anticipated.

"_Don't tell me that even he gives a damn about what happens to that bastard,"_ Tekyou thought,_ "Given the way that jerk treats him."_

Shippou bounced to the other shoulder; Kagome kept dragging her feet. Every now and then she would cry out "Inuyasha!" as if he would come and rescue her instead.

Then Shippou reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, gray pebble; which made Tekyou smirk, _"is that all he had?" _she thought. He dropped it upon Tekyou's left shoulder, where it got wedged into the ruffles of her uniform which closely resembled a ninja's suit.

Tekyou swatted at Shippou again. This time she finally matched his quickness with her own and caught him by the handle of his fluffy tail. Ripping him off of her shoulder and holding him up at arms length to her face, she tried to give him a menacing stare but was amazed when she found him smiling.

"Devious, little demon, you can go die with that half-breed then." Tekyou said, and was about to hurl Shippou over her shoulder, against Kagome's protest, when from out of nowhere she felt a sudden weight plummet down upon her left shoulder.

"What the hell?" Was all Tekyou managed to get out when she found herself tumbling to the ground; her grip upon Kagome's hand was all but gone. The devious, little fox had somehow managed to put one of his growing boulders upon her shoulder and had tricked her into thinking it was just a harmless pebble.

Falling face down, Tekyou spit out the dirt that had clogged her still, wide-opened mouth.

"Dammit!" She said; looking up she saw Kagome pulling herself off of the ground, Shippou had climbed back up onto Kagome's shoulder, before giving Tekyou the dirtiest look she had ever seen him make.

Briefly, Kagome glanced back at Tekyou then took off running in the direction that they had just came from: towards Inuyasha and the demon.

* * *

"Human bodies are weak, so easily they succumb to decay." The demon said, "Yet, I must admit they are very enjoyable to break."

"Dammit, you fuckin' bastard!" Inuyasha said, again readying his sword, trying to shut his mind off from the ungodly pain in his ankle and foot.

"I received so much pleasure from torturing dear Izayoi," The demon said; Inuyasha growled again and lunged at it.

"Unlike you, half-demon she kept begging me to stop." The demon easily parried Inuyasha's non-transformed Tetsusaiga, sending him flying backwards; somehow Inuyasha managed to land on his feet.

"You needed more of a push then her, but just like her, you eventually gave in and cried out in pain."

"I said shut yer fuckin' mouth!"

"Perhaps after you are dead I will track down that girl you were with." The demon smiled as it looked over towards the direction where Kagome, Shippou and Tekyou had run off. "I miss the pathetic screams of a woman."

"Wrong direction, bastard!" Inuyasha said, using his opponent's momentary distraction to his benefit, "You should be fuckin' paying attention to me!"

With a downward thrust of his blade, Inuyasha used his shear momentum to counter the dullness of the non-transformed Tetsusaiga, and dug it straight into the demon's exposed back. The blade sunk into its target and dug deep into the demon's insides before being yanked out as its owner back-flipped to the ground.

The demon looked surprised, as that of a young child who after pulling off a bee's wings and upon thinking the bee is dead, tries crushing it in his hands, only to be met with one last sting.

Yet, the surprise was only momentarily; then it began to laugh.

Drawing itself up to its full height and shaking its back injuries out as an athlete would a tiresome crick, the demon glared down at Inuyasha.

Unlike the demon, the human was looking thoroughly exhausted; he was panting, blood was dripping out of his nose from his earlier fall. His shoulder had been previously torn open from the demon's fire blast and fresh blood was pouring out of the wound and soaking the surrounding material of his fire-rat hitoe.

But, Inuyasha's foot and ankle were the worst of all; the color of greenish-yellow, the flesh was decaying away, already giant sores had broken out in spot-like patterns across the parts where the decay had by now devoured many layers of his skin.

The pain was beginning to numb Inuyasha's senses; he couldn't take anymore. If only sunrise would come, then he would be able to use his claws to rip this demon apart; then his Tetsusaiga would be able to transform into its true fang form, and most importantly then his wounds would be healed by the power in his demonic blood. Yet, it was still too early in the night; and at the rate his stamina was holding up, he wouldn't be able to hold off until then.

"_Kagome,"_ Inuyasha couldn't help thinking, _"Is this the end?"_ He kept dodging the demon's attacks; "W_ill I be able to see you again?"_ It had now become impossible to make attacks of his own; it took all of his human strength just to get out of the way.

"It was truly a shame that I could not finish Izayoi off; that I could not savor the pleasure of devouring her flesh."

The demon smiled; smoke trailing out of its mouth from between its long, pointed fangs, its eyes lighting up with a green, eerie glow.

"Very soon, son of Izayoi, it will be your flesh that I will be devouring," The demon said; it opened its jaws, unleashing a fresh wave of flames, the green ooze hissing within the smoke as if taunting the human with promises of future pain.

* * *

"Fuckin' lil' fox demon!" Tekyou said; she lay face down upon the floor, a gigantic boulder crushing down upon her left shoulder. Yet, Tekyou didn't call herself a demon slayer for nothing. With all the strength she could manage she reached for her left shoulder to touch the enormous boulder with her right hand. She knew that the spell within her palm should be more than enough to counter such trivial magic. Outstretching her right hand, she managed to touch the boulder, and as if she had put it beneath the rushing waters of a bewitched waterfall, the boulder began to erode away until it was nothing but the harmless pebble that it had started out being.

Wasting no time, Tekyou pushed herself forcefully off of the ground. About thirty paces away she could see Kagome, with Shippou clinging to her right shoulder, racing towards the sounds of the fight.

"_I must get to her before she reaches that clearing."_ Tekyou said; somehow she couldn't manage to stop the anxiety that began to fill her gut.

However, so far no human had been able to outrun her and Kagome stood no chance against those that Tekyou had already beaten. Even so, Kagome's concern for that damn half-demon had given her a quicker pace than Tekyou could have imaged. But ultimately she knew that she would catch up to her before Kagome reached her destination. And, it was this thought that despite the anxiety growing inside her, made Tekyou cock the first signs of a grin.

Kagome meanwhile was running towards what sounded like gigantic bolts of thunder smashing the ground within moments of each other. With each crashing sound her heart seemed to race all the more. Somewhere past all of the surrounding trees, Inuyasha was at the center of those sounds fighting for his life. Thoughts flashed across her mind at a pace that she could not control.

"_Inuyasha, please be okay." _Kagome thought, yet in her mind all she could see was an image of him, bloody and broken, barely being able to counter the attacks being shot at him from each direction.

The trees, racing past her as she ran, were beginning to thin out; she was quickly approaching the clearing. There she knew she would find Inuyasha fighting the demon. For a moment, she dreaded the sight she would see once she was no longer sheltered behind the trees. It was almost as if something inside her had a premature knowledge of what lied beyond—as if it was there watching the fight and already knew the outcome.

"No." Kagome said; her thoughts no longer able to be contained, "Inuyasha!"

Then there was calm, the last thunderbolt still hanging in the air. Suddenly a wave of anxiety swept over her. Why had the thunder stopped? Was it because Inuyasha had finally beaten the demon, or could it be that he had….

"No!" Kagome said, trying to stop any thoughts that spoke such terrible things; she needed Inuyasha to be alive.

* * *

Inuyasha was running out of space to dodge attacks; the towering demon blocked the path in front of him. And, he only had about five meters or so in either direction before he would hit the wall of fire that the demon had surrounded him with earlier.

"_Dammit,"_ Inuyasha thought, _"That bastard gave me just enough room so he could play around with me."_

The demon continued to shoot wave upon wave of scorching, white-flames combined with the green ooze at Inuyasha, splitting the ground as they missed their target, causing thunderous explosions, which seemed to shake the very earth beneath each time they smashed into the ground.

Inuyasha still continued to dodge them; each time, however the distance between the demon's blaze and Inuyasha's flesh was growing smaller.

There was a moment of impasse.

Inuyasha was panting; he was resting on one knee, the non-transformed Tetsusaiga readied in front of him towards the demon. The demon was smiling. Its jaws still smoking from its attacks; the smallest beads of sweat shimmered on its brow.

Suddenly flames burst forth from the outstretched jaws of the demon, directly at Inuyasha.

Using his kneeling position to his advantage, (and still trying to ignore the pain in his ankle and foot) Inuyasha sprung forward, and used his momentum to flip through the flames, swiping his Tetsusaiga in a circular arch to disperse the fire enough so no flames scorched his skin.

He landed two feet from the demon.

Being this close to his foe, Inuyasha acted on instinct and thrust the blade of Tetsusaiga directly into the tough, scaled hide of the demon's abdomen.

The demon stumbled slightly, its left foot almost loosing footing.

Suddenly, the demon grabbed Inuyasha's blade and was about to thrust the blade out of its belly, shoving the hilt directly into Inuyasha's stomach.

However, once the demon's hands had enclosed around the blade, the Tetsusaiga sent off a bolt of energy; scorching the demon's hands; rapidly it pushed the blade away.

The force from the thrust of the blade sent Inuyasha flying backwards. He landed with a thud, crushing his already injured foot and ankle underneath his body weight. Inuyasha sharply drew in a breath, the pain from his ankle and foot momentarily overwhelming his senses.

"Damn that sword," The demon said, looking down at its burnt hands; then it began to smile as its skin quickly regenerated itself.

Gingerly, Inuyasha pushed his weight off of his ankle; the ground—scorching from the demon's previous fire attacks—burning his hands.

The demon's smile began to widen as it saw Inuyasha grimace in pain as he moved off of his swollen ankle and foot.

"I must admit it is very enjoyable watching you suffer," the demon hissed, "But even this pleasure can't last forever."

The demon then brought its arms out to form a semicircle, and from its open palms shot forth another large blast of daggers aimed directly at Inuyasha.

Out of the corner of his eye, Inuyasha saw the sharp blades flying towards him.

"_Shit!" _Inuyasha thought; his ankle was in agony, his hands were blistering, yet he didn't have time to waste on pain.

Ignoring the pain in his body, Inuyasha quickly got to his feet and was going to use the inertia of a back flip to flee from the reign of fire. But when he was in mid jump, suddenly the demon changed the direction of the blast it was sending to follow Inuyasha's movements.

Inuyasha saw the blast coming straight at him just as he was about to flip backwards; dropping out of mid-flip, Inuyasha rolled away from the blast, (but not fast enough!) several of the daggers hit him square in the shoulder, the green ooze just barely missing him.

This close to him, Inuyasha could see that the daggers were actually small fangs covered in a skin of jagged spines. Once the fangs made contact with his body they seemed to become alive. The fangs clung onto his hitoe and, like parasitic lampreys, began to rip into the fabric. His fire rat hitoe at first held strong against them. But, then as if they were hell-born termites gnawing their way into the wood of a fortress, the fangs began to eat their way through the material.

Inuyasha grabbed one of the fangs. "Shit!" He cried; trying to release it the moment he touched it. Yet, the fang began to reproduce itself upon contact, sending miniature versions of itself directly into the palm of his hand. These mini-fangs began to bury themselves into his skin like their larger counterparts had done; painfully tearing into any arteries in their wake.

His pause to free his body from the infection of fangs had been costly. Just then another blast of shards, this time along with the green ooze, hit him square across his back. Inuyasha stumbled from the impact and crashed to the ground.

Sinking right through the weakened fire rat hitoe as water would paper, the green ooze began to descend into his back; his skin seemed to catch fire, his mind began to blur under the sheer pain. He could no longer contain himself; he began to scream out in pain as more shards entered the skin of his back.

* * *

The beginning of the clearing was coming into view; already Kagome could see some trees blackened as if they had been set ablaze by a giant blowtorch. Many of the trees were cracked, their tops broken so they looked more like tall, slender, black twigs, instead of maples.

She could hear Shippou panting upon her shoulder, and could feel the tight grasp of his tiny fingers clinging to a clump of her shirt.

It was about this time when she heard another sound; like the rush of thousands of volts of electricity, it sounded like a whirlwind of energy was being rapidly channeled repeatedly to the ground. Amidst the sound of rushing energy a hissing sound came through which sizzled like that of an egg frying on a saucepan. Her nose began to tingle as the smell of burnt flesh evaded her senses.

As she neared the edge of the clearing she saw that the ground there was scattered with craters about three meters in length and a meter in depth, some of which still were fuming with thick, black smoke. She could only imagine that these must have been made from the crashes of thunder that she had heard before.

But it was when Kagome was running around a particularly large crater that she heard a sound that she had never before heard; uncontrollably she stopped dead in her tracks. This set Shippou jolting forward at her abrupt halt; yet he did not fall off.

At first the sound was almost inaudible over the roar of rushing energy, yet then it reached her ears in such perfect clarity that she could swear she was standing at its source. There was no mistaking it; Inuyasha was screaming.

Shippou began to shake uncontrollably now. "Kagome," was all he could mutter.

Kagome had known Inuyasha for almost two years now, and over that time she had seen him fight many demons, some with extraordinary power. But never in all her time she'd spent with him had she heard him sound anything like this. He was truly in agony.

"Inuyasha!" Without thinking of the danger ahead, Kagome ran to him. Yes, the idea crossed her mind that if any demon could make Inuyasha scream to this extent, what chance did she have against it. But at this moment Kagome did not think about her own safety; her only thought was to get to Inuyasha.

* * *

The demon let out a satisfactory moan, its hands rose as it let another wave of daggers shoot forth.

"What I wonder is just how you, half-demon, are going to escape from my grasp?"

The demon was standing directly over Inuyasha as he lay screaming and thrashing on the floor, trying to pull the now numerous fangs out of his skin. He seemed to keep trying, even if it only produced more shards upon touch; the pain was driving Inuyasha into a state of deliria by now, a place where logic did not register, only instincts.

Suddenly, a new hatred reflected in the demon's eyes; it paused in its torturing of Inuyasha.

"You see, it was the great Inu no Taisho that came to her aid." At the mention of his father, Inuyasha's thrashings lessened. He also seemed to sense the demon standing above him, and his face began to scowl in defiance.

Pulling the human up by his long, black hair, the demon brought Inuyasha's face close to its own and began to nipple on his cheek. Small drops of blood began to appear where the demon's fangs tore into his skin.

Inuyasha's mind was desperately fighting to stay conscious. _"I…can't…let…him…win."_


	2. The Smell of Blood and Myrrh

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha – obviously…

Warning: Language and violence (just to be sure)

Criticism: Well I am finally posting. I wrote this story a while ago (last December actually). I've never posted anything before so I decided to test the water with this story. Please, comments would be great! I take all criticisms (though, where and how I can improve are always more effective–obviously). However, anything goes; just tell me what you think.

Author's Note: I wrote this to examine the relationship between Inuyasha and his brother Sesshoumaru. I've split it up into four parts, which are roughly the same length. I plan on posting twice a week, if possible. The story is complete (just for clarification purposes), however I just thought I would space it out so it's not such a mouthful.

Thanks: First off: THANKS to you guys who reviewed! It is so nice to see that I got some. You guys have no idea how much that makes my day! Thank you. And to those of you who _alerted_ or _favorited_ this story or myself– thanks! It lets me know that people are interested. And finally, thanks to all readers! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for coming back.

* * *

**The End**

**Chapter 2: The Smell of Blood and Myrrh.**

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken said, chasing after the tall, dog-demon lord, "My Lord, please wait up!"

Lord Sesshoumaru hadn't spoken a word to him all day. And, while his lord had never been one for conversation, Jaken was used to at least two or three words from him throughout the day. Normally it was a nod or a glance. Some days he was really lucky and received a few words in explanation as to where they were going.

At this point, he would be happy with even a one word insult.

Today however, Lord Sesshoumaru seemed particularly bent on something.

It was right after they had stopped beside a stream so Rin could catch some fish to eat that Jaken could have sworn that his lord had sensed something, for he became suddenly fixed on traveling south; the direction which they had been traveling all day and it was now way into the late hours of the night.

And, although his senses were not as attuned as his lord's, Jaken was beginning to sense some amount of demonic energy.

"Don't keep bothering him, Jaken-sama," said Rin, "He's concentrating."

Jaken stopped dead in his tracks, and spun around to face Rin who was skipping along behind him, every so often stopping quickly to pick a nearby wildflower. Despite the hour of the night, the little girl seemed to still be bouncing with energy. Jaken however was exhausted.

"Now listen here, girl," Jaken said; his green, little beak flailing, "Do you think that you, a mere mortal child, who has only been following us for a blink's time, supersede me in understanding my Lord?"

"After all my long centuries of loyal services," Jaken continued; his green skin bagging under his eyes, yet his voice was as lofty as if the little imp did not come up only to the child's midsection in height. "No one knows my Lord better than I!"

"Huh?" Jaken looked up from his wailing only to find that Rin was no longer there, having already caught up with Lord Sesshoumaru, who still continued onward as if he had no followers at all.

"Rin!" Jaken said; his embarrassment all being directed at the girl. "Do not walk away when I am talking to you!"

"Jaken." Lord Sesshoumaru said; his voice even, "Do not follow me anymore."

Lord Sesshoumaru did not even turn around to see if Jaken obeyed his command instead he kept walking onward.

"What?" Jaken said, his big, yellow eyes bulging; his already high voice reaching a new record in its screeching ability.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken all but sobbed, "After all that I have done for you; my entire life I have placed at your honorable service…."

"Rin, you stay behind too." Lord Sesshoumaru said; his voice even and calm as if no Jaken was pouring his heart out behind him. "I must go on from this point alone."

"Huh?" Jaken said, looking up between sobs; those last words Lord Sesshoumaru spoke seemed to stop his wallowing.

"You will come back for us, won't you Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin said. This time, Jaken looked over to Rin; he couldn't understand why but somehow he felt more appreciative of her at this moment.

Lord Sesshoumaru stared at Rin for a second and with the briefest nod that almost looked like he was merely glancing quickly at the ground; he turned and continued walking onward.

To anyone else it would have seemed that the stoic, dog-demon lord had merely abandoned both the little girl and his faithful attendant without even an acknowledgment to serve as goodbye. To anyone else of course, but not to Jaken. He had come to read very intimately his lord's smallest gestures of acknowledgment, approval, disappointment and anger (which to any other passerby looked to all be one and the same).

After a day of worrying about his lord's welfare, and after nearly thinking that he was being casted away by him as well, his lord's last gesture left Jaken finally happy. He knew his lord would be coming back.

For a moment he glanced at Rin. The little girl had not taken her eyes off of Lord Sesshoumaru's retreating back. Unlike Lord Sesshoumaru, Rin's emotions could be seen as plainly as one could tell when it was raining. She had to squint now to keep her eyes on her lord's retreating figure, which was being swallowed up by the distant foliage. Her lips were forming a slight frown; she let out a tiny whimper.

"Come now, Rin," said Jaken, still feeling thankful to her from earlier, "Let's camp here for the night and wait for Sesshoumaru-sama to return."

At the sound of Jaken's voice, Rin seemed to relax a bit. "Okay Jaken-sama," she said; a big smile breaking out on her face, showing the tip of her first, permanent tooth poking through the roof of her mouth where a baby tooth had once stood.

* * *

The demon glared at Inuyasha, still holding the human up by his hair, his face only inches away from the demon's fangs.

"It was because of the great Inu no Taisho that I could not kill Izayoi," the demon said, "Still, I swore to have my vengeance on her offspring."

The demon dropped Inuyasha to the floor.

"You see that was why that fire-rat hitoe of yours failed to protect you; before the great Inu no Taisho could kill me, I placed a curse upon Izayoi. I bound her soul to my life that way if I were to be killed, Izayoi would surely follow. But, because of the great Inu no Taisho, I could never again hurt her. Yet because of the curse I placed upon her, any offspring she bore would be powerless against me. Even if he put up a fight, in the end he would succumb to me."

Through blurred vision, Inuyasha saw his Tetsusaiga just inches away from his fingertips.

Slowly, his fingers edged their way towards the sword. Slowly…almost there….

"Of course, the great Inu no Taisho didn't want such a tragedy to occur, least of all to Izayoi's children, so he sealed me away in a death-like sleep for all eternity."

Inuyasha's longest finger had reached the sword…_almost there_…

"That was of course until your friend, that demon slayer, decided to free me; I suppose we have her to thank for the failure of the great Inu no Taisho."

Inuyasha's two other fingers grasped the hilt; until all had finally managed to take hold of the sword.

"Imagine my glee then once I found out that Izayoi's only offspring was fathered by none other than the great Inu no Taisho himself."

Suddenly, the demon's large, horned-toed foot crushed down upon Inuyasha's hand; his hand flattened over the hilt of his sword.

"You are beaten, half-demon," The demon said, its foot pressing harder into Inuyasha's hand until it heard the satisfactory crack of bones breaking, "Why are you still trying to defy me?"

Then it kicked the sword away, before sending a new wave of dagger-sized fangs and green ooze down upon Inuyasha, who uncontrollably began screaming, still writhing in pain upon the floor.

* * *

Kagome was running towards the sounds of Inuyasha's screams, when suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed the back of her shirt, catching several strands of her hair in the process.

Unnoticed to Kagome, Tekyou had finally caught up with her (which in reality had been no time at all) and had thrown her weight upon her.

In a yelp of pain, Kagome fell to the ground, crushed underneath the weight that had so suddenly been thrown upon her.

Somehow it was amazing that Shippou did not fall off of Kagome's shoulder when she fell. It must have been the sound of Inuyasha's screams that had made the little fox demon cling to Kagome with such intensity, that he rode her shoulder all the way down to the ash-covered ground like a rather fast elevator ride.

Kagome had landed in a particularly large crater; she felt the ashes on the ground burn her skin the moment she touched the earth. Tekyou's weight pinned her firmly to the ground. She could still hear Inuyasha screaming, and now being this close to the battle zone, Kagome could swear she could hear what sounded like sadistic laughter.

She craned her neck upwards to try to see what was happening in the direction of the sounds; yet her eyes were met only with the rocky ground of the crater's edge. _"What's happening,"_ Kagome thought,_ "What's he doing to Inuyasha?"_

"Get up!" Tekyou said, as she pulled Kagome off of the floor.

Kagome immediately looked for Inuyasha. Yet all she saw of the scene before her was a circular wall of fire, of which the flames burnt to the height of four meters or so.

Then a shadowy figure seemed to rise up, silhouetted against the backdrop of the fire wall. It seemed to be monstrous in height, like an enormous tower containing large, muscular arms and legs. Its arms were outstretched as if it were summoning the very spirits of hell through the thick flames. But instead of spirits rising from the ground, volts of energy, which looked fuzzy through the flickering fire wall, rained down from the tips of its sharp, talon claws. It was then that Kagome noticed another figure writhing upon the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed.

Kagome's first instinct was to run to Inuyasha, but just then Tekyou yanked her back. However, Kagome being so desperate in her attempts to go in that direction ended up taking them both back to the ground yet again.

Tekyou again yanked Kagome up to her feet; but this time, she spun Kagome around to face her.

"Don't you get it?" Tekyou was furious now, "After that demon is finished with the half-breed, he will then finish you off!"

"Let go!" Kagome too was beyond patience now. "You don't get it. Inuyasha needs me!"

Tekyou slapped Kagome across the face; the impact caused her head to snap to the side. Kagome had only time to caress her aching cheek when Tekyou grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her.

"Dammit, I am not gonna' let you die for some fuckin' half-demon," Tekyou said, "I'll fight you myself if you keep this up!"

Somehow Shippou found some courage. With all his might he jumped up on Tekyou's shoulder and bit down into her skin. Bad mistake; Tekyou slammed her fist straight into the side of his face, sending him flying two meters into the air before crashing against the hard floor. It was a moment before the pain from his face was matched by the pain caused by lying on the burning floor of a crater that was covered in tiny, jagged rocks.

Pulling himself up on to his hind paws, Shippou touched his face. Not surprisingly, blood came back upon his palm from where his hand had touched the bruise. His little body was covered in cuts from his fall on the sharp rocks.

He saw Tekyou throw Kagome over her shoulder; yelling something at her which was inaudible over sounds of rushing energy and Inuyasha's screams, which to Shippou seemed to be getting louder.

Uncontrollably, Shippou looked over to where the sounds of Inuyasha's screams were coming from. Despite being in a crater (probably what kept the demon from seeing him, however), Shippou was so close to the battle zone that he had a clear view, having from Tekyou's throw landed close to a part of the circular wall of fire that was starting to die down in height.

Over the remains of a circle of fire, Shippou saw the demon standing over Inuyasha who was lying on the floor. From the demon's outstretched palms wave upon wave of what looked to be tiny daggers streamed forth and collided with the human's body; green smoke seemed to hover several centimeters above Inuyasha's skin. Shippou scrunched up his tiny nose; a pungent smell of myrrh and rotting flesh seemed to overwhelm his fox demon's senses.

Inuyasha kept clawing at his skin with his clawless, human hands; it looked to Shippou that the daggers were digging themselves into his flesh on their own account.

Something between anger and despair washed over him. He felt as though he was back crouched under the bushes again, watching as his Pa was being killed by the Thunder Brothers. He could almost hear their laughter as they continued to club his father with the hilts of their swords.

"Inuyasha." Shippou said; his voice barely above a mutter. Tears flowed down his cheeks. He saw that Tekyou, still carrying Kagome over her shoulder, was now being hidden by the first loose trees of the forest as they headed further back into the woods where he and Kagome had run out of just moments before.

"Kagome." Shippou said; his paws were beginning to ache unbearably against the scorching floor. He was torn between chasing after Tekyou and going to try to help Inuyasha. Sadly though, he knew that he had little chance against a demon that was able to beat Inuyasha, even if Inuyasha had been in his human form. No, the only chance Shippou had of helping anyone was if he could somehow get Tekyou to let go of Kagome, then perhaps she could shoot her sacred arrows at the demon. He only hoped that they would not be too late to save Inuyasha.

With that Shippou raced after Tekyou and Kagome; he could just barely see them now, Kagome still trying as best she could to get freed while Tekyou carried her away.

"_Hang on Inuyasha, we're coming for you,"_ Shippou said, never realizing that the words never left his thoughts, as he raced to try and free Kagome from Tekyou's grasp.

* * *

Sesshoumaru continued onward. _"The demonic energy is becoming increasingly stronger here."_

Again the sickening, sweet smell of myrrh and rotting flesh caught his nostrils. For most of the day, Sesshoumaru had been following this particular scent. His senses had locked on to it around midday and he had been following it ever since, not bothering to inform the ever inquisitive Jaken.

"_There is something familiar about this_ _scent." _Sesshoumaru thought; in all his years he had only encountered one demon who had smelt of this peculiar scent and that was over several hundred years ago.

As the scent grew stronger, (the closer he got to its source) he became increasingly aware of the presence of demonic energy.

Yet, it had been when Lord Sesshoumaru had smelt the scent of blood that he had commanded Jaken and Rin to wait behind.

It was unmistakably Inuyasha's blood, yet not the normal blood of a half-demon that he was used to smelling. It smelt like a human's blood; none of the particular hints of demonic power, which his brother's blood normally contained, were present.

"_This must be the one time during the month when Inuyasha becomes human_," Sesshoumaru thought. He had always known that as a half-demon, Inuyasha must have had a time when he was most vulnerable, yet he did not know exactly when.

"_Curious,"_ Sesshoumaru thought again.

* * *

Kagome saw the approach of trees. Tekyou was taking her farther and farther away from Inuyasha. She could barely hear what Tekyou was saying, only several of her words managed to register in Kagome's mind. "Dammit…going to…die…half-breed…"

"_That's right_," Kagome thought; _"Inuyasha is going to die."_ It was way too early in the night for it to be daybreak; he would have to stay alive for over a good five hours before his demonic powers returned to him. Now was the time when he needed her the most, and she was not there.

"Put me down, dammit!" Kagome said, her face felt so hot, already she could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. She felt humiliated, angered, but mostly anxious about Inuyasha.

Yet, however hard she kicked at Tekyou's stomach, or punched at her back, the older woman didn't stumble. She kept carrying Kagome farther away.

"Fuckin'…tired…punch you…'eep it up." Again, Tekyou's voice was barely audible over the surrounding noises and Kagome's inner thoughts.

Suddenly all noises stopped. The rushing sound of energy; that hissing, unsettling sound; and even worse Inuyasha's screams had all grew deadly silent.

Kagome struggled to see what was happening; yet no matter how much she tried to strain her neck and twist her shoulders around, she was too far away to see what was going on. By now, many trees blocked her view of the clearing.

A feeling of such utter powerlessness washed over Kagome and for a moment she thought she was going to go mad out of frustration, when suddenly she heard the whooshing sound of rushing air racing toward her.

With a movement almost too quick for Kagome to see, an open-fingered, gloved fist came out of the air and collided directly with Tekyou's face.

"Sango-chan!" Kagome cried, as she saw out of the corner of her eye the demon slayer jumping off of a flying, demon cat and landing precisely on her feet on the ground below.

* * *

Up ahead, Sesshoumaru could see a clearing in the forest coming into focus. The smell of myrrh and rotting flesh seemed to overwhelm the air now; the demonic energy too was now very potent to his senses.

"_I must be reaching the source."_

Upon entering the clearing, it was evident to Sesshoumaru that a battle had recently occurred here; the ground was covered in large craters still smoking from where fire propellants had smashed into it earlier.

Sesshoumaru could feel an intense heat rising from the ground as he stepped over the scorched earth. He knew the rocky floor inside the crater must be burning to the bare foot.

Ahead towards the center of the clearing he could see two figures, one lying on the ground while the second towered above the other. Forming a semi-circle around the two figures were the remains of what had most likely been a tall wall of fire, of which the highest parts now burned no higher than a medium-size camp fire.

The smell of Inuyasha's blood here was a bit overwhelming for Sesshoumaru's senses. He knew that Inuyasha must have lost a considerable amount; it would seem that he had not fared well in this battle.

Sesshoumaru was several meters away from the two figures now and not once had his presence been known.

* * *

Sango's punch square to her face had caused Tekyou to drop Kagome as she fell backward to the forest ground.

Kagome then felt herself falling but before she hit the ground another hand reached out and caught her; she recognized the rosary beads that trailed up the wrist in no time.

"Miroku-sama!" said Kagome. "You guys came back!"

"Hello, Kagome-sama." Miroku said, as the monk pulled Kagome onto the large, demon cat's back.

"Are you ok, Kagome-chan?" Sango said; Kagome nodded.

Sango stood several paces from Tekyou. She bore a giant Boomerang tied diagonally across her back; a long sword hung from its sheath at her side. Slowly she drew a pair of blades from either side of her pants; like Tekyou's, the uniform Sango wore resembled closely to that of a ninja's fighting gear.

"Kirara, take Kagome-chan to Inuyasha," Sango said, as she called out to the demon cat, who roared in acknowledgement.

At the sound of Inuyasha's name, Tekyou wiped the blood off of her lip and jumped up and drew twin blades of her own from either side of her obi (belt).

"Houshi-sama (monk), take care of Kagome." Sango said; Miroku nodded.

"I will handle Tekyou," Sango said, her dark, brown eyes narrowed as she met Tekyou's gaze.

For a fraction of a second, Miroku seemed to hesitate before his eyes locked with Sango's. Then, without another pause, Miroku nudged Kirara, who too seemed to be double-checking with Sango, before they flew off towards Inuyasha. Kagome held tightly onto Miroku's shoulders so she didn't fall off.

* * *

The demon smiled down at its quarry; a deep feeling of satisfaction welling up inside of it. _"At long last I have my revenge upon Izayoi's child."_

"And now after over two hundred years, I shall finally get the pleasure of devouring Izayoi's flesh!" In its giddiness, the demon spoke its thoughts aloud.

Inuyasha was quiet; he had passed out from the pain. The demon then settled down to the floor next to Inuyasha's body. It then grabbed several clumps of Inuyasha's hair and lifted him up and laid the human in its lap.

The demon inhaled a deep breath, savoring the smell of the human's burnt and rotting flesh.

"My miasma has salted you quite nicely," said the demon; as it ran a clawed hand over Inuyasha's skin where the green ooze had left large, blistering sores in its wake. Titling Inuyasha's face to expose a tender cheek, the demon could feel the human's rapid breathing against its palm; even in sleep it seemed that Inuyasha was still in pain.

The demon breathed Inuyasha's sent in again, and this time began to take small bites out of his cheek.

It was then that one of the flames from the waning fire diagonally in front of them cast a shadow of a figure standing several paces behind the demon and its soon to be meal.

From the demon's position on the ground, the new come figure seemed to be enormous; it was dressed in armor that looked to be made of fangs. Now the demon finally did smell it; it was the scent of the great dog demon.

"No," hissed the demon, turning quickly around, Inuyasha still held in its clutches. "It can not be…. Inu no Taisho!?"


	3. A Lowly Offer

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha – obviously…

Warning: Language and violence (just to be sure)

Author's Note: I wrote this to examine the relationship between Inuyasha and his brother Sesshoumaru. I've split it up into four parts, which are roughly the same length. I plan on posting twice a week, if possible. The story is complete (just for clarification purposes), however I just thought I would space it out so it's not such a mouthful.

Apologies: Sorry again for posting only once this week. It was really a terrible week; so what did I expect? I guess. I will post the last chapter of this story next week.

Thanks: Again thanks to all who read, favorited, and to the one person who reviewed (yay!). Thanks so much for commenting. I swear everyday I check my email, and it just thrills me to see people reacting to my story!

Criticism: Having rarely shared my stuff, except for some writing classes in college, I have to wonder how my writing comes across to other people. Do I suck or am I passable? Or maybe I'm "salvageable" with some few pointers. There is even the possibility that perhaps I'm pretty good; but either way I really am curious just what you guys think. However, I won't demand reviews; so I'll say again, please feel free to review at your own leisure. And thanks again for reading. As always though, all criticism is welcomed no matter how frank it may be. So feel free to tell me what you honestly think. Do note that I will make revisions to this document if anyone finds errors; so it's not too late even though I have posted this I can make changes, so please tell me if something is off. Thanks again.

* * *

**The End**

**Chapter 3: A Lowly Offer.**

"No," hissed the demon, turning quickly around, Inuyasha still in its clutches. "It can not be…. Inu no Taisho!?"

For the first time that night, the demon's voice contained shadows of fear.

Standing several paces away from the demon stood what appeared to be a tall man with long, silver hair that fell way past his back. He bore a stoic expression on his handsome face; yet, his amber eyes blazed. He was staring directly at the demon. A long, fluffy tail, which looked more like a mince coat draped over his right shoulder; and he wore plated, spiked armor that could be seen plainly covering his left shoulder. On his left side, two swords hung from his obi.

"You are suppose to be dead, Inu no Taisho." The demon said, the fear emanating from its body in waves.

Then the demon seemed to focus its gaze more clearly upon the stranger before it and its fear began to evaporate.

"I see," said the demon, "My apologies my Lord, you are not the great Inu no Taisho but rather his true, demon-blooded son, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Sesshoumaru continued to stare at the demon before glancing down at Inuyasha. His head still resting in the demon's lap, Inuyasha's face was turned towards Sesshoumaru exposing his right cheek to the demon's jaws.

Inuyasha's long, hair fell over the demon's thigh and to the ground, but instead of being the color of silver-white it was now a raven black. Sesshoumaru noticed a regular size human ear on the right side of Inuyasha's head, the human replacement for his brother's normal canine ears.

Inuyasha's left arm hung limp over the demon's knee. Sesshoumaru noted that Inuyasha's blood-covered fingers contained regular human fingernails instead of his usual demon claws.

Then Sesshoumaru looked at his brother's face. Dirt stains covered his cheeks and a trail of blood flowed from his nose. Yet, his brother's human face still looked the same as always. With the exception of the bruises the only difference Sesshoumaru noted was that his brother's face now looked calm; he looked like he was in a peaceful sleep, except for the sound of his uneven breathing. Normally, Sesshoumaru was used to seeing a scowl upon his younger brother's face whenever they met.

Sesshoumaru took a moment to scan the rest of his brother's body. He noted the greenish-yellow colored sores all over Inuyasha's exposed skin, his blood-stained shoulder, and the small bite marks on his right cheek. For some reason to Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha seemed to look weaker than usual and more vulnerable. For the first time since he entered the presence of the demon and his brother, Sesshoumaru snorted.

"_So this is Inuyasha as a human," _Sesshoumaru thought, _"How pathetic."_

"I see you are no friend of this half-demon," the demon said, Inuyasha's blood dripping from the corners of its mouth and trailing down its chin. "Then I bear you no ill will, lord demon," the demon continued. "It is against this half-demon and his weak, human mother that I seek my vengeance and not to you or your great father."

Inuyasha's breathing started to become more jagged; it seemed like he was trying to wake up from unconsciousness.

Sesshoumaru could see that Inuyasha's hitoe had been shredded to the point where it seemed nonexistent; it was then that Sesshoumaru noticed something moving beneath the skin of his brother's shoulder. He sniffed the air. A strong metallic and sour smell channeled into his senses; apparently the demon had injected Inuyasha with immobilizing flesh-fangs. Sesshoumaru had only known demons of much older centuries to use such tactics in battle. Again he snorted; had only Inuyasha been trained to fight by their father he would have easily known how to immobilize such weaponry.

He could see some of the flesh-fangs still moving underneath the surface of Inuyasha's skin. By allowing the demon's flesh-fangs to penetrate his skin, Inuyasha had undeniably sealed his fate.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed; what was this faint emotion stirring within him? Was it disappointment? He could not place it. Perhaps it was indignation? Whatever it was it puzzled Lord Sesshoumaru. Yet, the demon must have noticed something in Sesshoumaru's eyes for it began to quiver.

"My Lord." The demon said, "Perhaps we both can benefit from this troublesome half-breed's death."

"I have heard that you have coveted this boy's sword, the Tetsusaiga," the demon continued, its eyes beginning to light up with what seemed to be malicious glee once it spotted Inuyasha's sword lying several feet away.

"Take it, Sesshoumaru-sama," the demon said, "It is my gift to you, oh great, powerful one." The demon bowed its head in respect, shielding its fear-stricken eyes as best it could from Sesshoumaru's gaze.

"Consider it the prize of all your years' pursuits—"

"Do you dare offer me my father's fang as a gift from you, lowly demon?" Sesshoumaru said; cutting off the demon in mid speech, its mouth still open. Sesshoumaru's voice was calm and even, yet his eyes glared daggers at the demon.

"I meant no disrespect, my Lord." The demon said.

"I shall be the judge of respect, not the likes of you."

"But, my Lord—"

Sesshoumaru drew his sword, the Toukijin.

"Stand up," Sesshoumaru said, "Unless you want me to slay you where you lie."

"Be merciful, great son of the great Inu no Taisho!"

"A lowly demon such as you has no place to speak of my father." Sesshoumaru said; "My father sealed your pathetic existence away centuries ago; your every move in this world dishonors him."

Scrambling back on all fours, the demon backed away from the Toukijin's extended blade. Its claws digging into Inuyasha's shoulder as it dragged the human along with it, placing Inuyasha has a shield between itself and the approaching Sesshoumaru.

But then the demon's demeanor changed; perhaps it had seen that it could not bride its way out of a fight with Sesshoumaru, and had too much pride to die whimpering on its knees.

Growling, the demon leaped up to its feet, rising to the height of more than four meters above the ground. Still holding Inuyasha as a shield in front of it; it glared down at Sesshoumaru.

"Lowly demon am I?" the demon said, towering above Sesshoumaru, "Foolish, bastard!"

"It was me who should have been the one to send your pathetic father to the grave!"

Sesshoumaru still held his blade at the ready; his face calm and even, so very different from the seething demon before him.

Unexpectedly the demon's large jaws opened and a wave of white-hot flames edged with green ooze spewed out towards Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru remained still. The flames raced towards him until they were several paces in front of him; before they could make contact with his skin, he swiped the Toukijin's blade in a swift arch, and the flames and green ooze dispersed upon contact.

At last Sesshoumaru could identify which part of the demon was producing the sickening sweet scent of myrrh and rotting flesh; it was coming from the green ooze.

Inuyasha reeked of it; and judging from that fact that he was covered in sores where his skin had begun to rot, Sesshoumaru assumed his theory was correct that the green ooze was actually an ancient form of miasma, which feasted off of the skin, decomposing it even while alive.

Suddenly from the hand not clutching Inuyasha, the demon shot forth a multitude of flesh-fangs aimed directly at Sesshoumaru's heart.

"Pitiful." Sesshoumaru said.

Sesshoumaru arched his palm upward towards the flying flesh-fangs and from the tips of his extended claws a green acid sprayed out. As soon as the flesh-fangs made contact with the acid they tried to embed themselves within the encountered substance in the similar way they had done to Inuyasha's flesh. But this time, the acid began to corrode the tough hide of the fang; a sizzling sound sprung up as the fangs began to dissolve and were eroded away long before they could reach Sesshoumaru.

The demon snarled at Sesshoumaru.

Just then, Inuyasha let out a whimper and mumbled something incoherent. Having been fairly left alone all of this time by the demon (with the exception of the tearing flesh-fangs still painfully causing havoc beneath his skin), he was getting closer to awakening.

But all his actions did was seemed to bring the two demons' attention back on him, which had otherwise been lost after the mentioning of his father.

"_He is still alive,"_ Sesshoumaru thought, he didn't need to hear a sound from Inuyasha to confirm this; Sesshoumaru's keen hearing could hear his brother's heartbeat. Yet his focus had been on the demon and so he had not paid much attention to it.

Still though, Sesshoumaru had to ponder at Inuyasha's endurance and will to live, especially being in the weak form of a human body.

The demon too was awakened to Inuyasha's presence again, like a child that had just remembered that his favorite toy was still present.

At that moment, the demon grabbed Inuyasha by the hair and brought him up until his throat was a mere inches away from the demon's protruding jaws.

"I have savored draining the life from the great Inu no Taisho's pup," the demon said, "And once I devour him, then I shall inherit the great, dog-demon lord's power!"

* * *

Miroku and Kagome were right at the clearing's edge when suddenly Kirara swooped down close to the ground. The closer the demon-cat flew to the ground, the more they recognized what she had heard that had triggered such behavior.

"Kagome!" A small, high-pitched voice cried out, "Miroku!" Suddenly the tiny form of Shippou could be seen racing on the ground directly below them. Kirara swooped down and flung him upward with her head. Shippou flew over the head and neck of the large, yellow cat before he was snatched up by Kagome's outstretched arms.

"Shippou-chan!" Kagome said; hugging him, her eyes misted. "I was really worried about you; I hope Tekyou didn't hurt you too badly."

Miroku reached out to examine the child's wounds; Shippou grunted as Miroku's hand brushed over the bruise on his cheek.

"This bruise is serious," Miroku said, "What was Tekyou thinking by striking you so hard?"

"It's okay," said Shippou, "It doesn't hurt anymore." Yet, his large, blue eyes misted.

They were quickly approaching the center of the clearing, directly into the battleground of Inuyasha and the demon.

The demon was facing in their direction. In its left hand it held up an unconscious Inuyasha; the demon's claws tearing deeply into the human's skin. It held Inuyasha's throat up to its jaws, which were smiling menacingly.

Directly in front of the demon stood another figure standing with his back towards them, facing the demon head-on. They could see his long strains of silver-white hair and the long sleeves of his white and red hitoe billowing in the wind. A sword was raised in his right hand.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" said Miroku.

Kagome's eyes widened; what was Sesshoumaru doing here? The demon looked like it said something to Sesshoumaru, but Kagome could not hear it over the rushing sound of air as Kirara flew closer. She then saw the demon opening its protruding jaws and preparing to close them around Inuyasha's neck.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome all but screamed, her hands reaching for her bow, yet she would never be able to load the arrow and draw it before the demon's jaws would close and claim the life of her beloved. The moments seemed to draw out in Kagome's mind; beside her she could hear Shippou cry out Inuyasha's name, and Miroku yell to Kirara to fly faster, her hands still pulling out the bow, her fingers still aligning the arrow to the string…then something else happened… Sesshoumaru saved Inuyasha.

* * *

In a time span too quick for the demon to react (or even for the demon to register coherent thought) from the tips of Sesshoumaru's claws a green substance extended into the length of a whip and slashed through the fangs that were about to close down onto Inuyasha's neck.

With a scream of furry, the demon roared its head back, releasing Inuyasha from its grip; Inuyasha fell to the ground as if he were made of lead.

Sesshoumaru merely stared at the demon, his face a stoic mask, yet his amber-colored eyes narrowed.

"Pathetic demon," said Sesshoumaru, "Perish."

Sesshoumaru lunched forward towards the demon; with one swift swipe of the Toukijin, he sliced through the demon's midsection, up the length of his body, through his neck until the blade shot out of his chin, severing the demon, from the waist up, into two, vertical halves.

The demon went into a spasm; roaring, it rolled its head back in furry; both severed halves of its jaw distorting grotesquely in different directions, its broken fangs exploding out of its mouth like a handful of confetti.

Sesshoumaru then noticed Inuyasha beginning to convulse on the ground; his body's systems shutting down rapidly. He could still see the flesh-fangs moving beneath Inuyasha's skin; he could only imagine how many organs they had torn up in their wake.

Just then, Sesshoumaru heard a woman's voice cry out "INUYASHA!"

He was a bit surprised that he had not noticed them approaching; then given the intensity of the demon's reek of myrrh and rotting flesh, combined with the potent smell of Inuyasha's blood, the smell of other humans nearby seemed minor in comparison.

The girl that normally traveled with Inuyasha, known as Kagome, was yelling his brother's name. She was not alone. She and two others, a small fox demon child and the young monk named Miroku, also Inuyasha's companions, rode on a flying, two-tailed, demon cat.

Afterwards he no longer focused on Inuyasha's companions; his attention turned towards the demon.

The demon's body had been split into two halves straight down the middle, starting from the stomach up. Since they had been severed, the two sliced halves of the demon had been trying to merge themselves back into one collective whole; the mid-section spouting out skin to serve as a kind of masking tape trying to connect the body back together.

New skin had spawned across the bodies of the severed halves, and had already fixed the body together up until the chest. The demon's halves were almost properly attached; the demon was becoming whole again as if the strike had never taken place. Both of the demon's skewed jaws still continued to warp and twist in agony.

Sesshoumaru raised his sword upward before thrusting it in a downward swipe towards the ground.

The downward thrust of Toukijin created a massive, blue wave of energy that shot forth from the tip of the sword directly towards the demon's midsection.

In a blue wave of fury, the demons' body began to disintegrate until it burst into thousands of tiny particles and scattered out in every direction, fading slowly into the nothingness.

Sesshoumaru stood, his sword still raised in the air. His face was void of all emotions, perfectly still, like the one ship, who being properly anchored, still remained in the same, solid condition long after the squall left the harbor.

Then he sheathed the Toukijin.

* * *

Inuyasha was beginning to come to. Pain flooded his consciousness; so much pain. Inuyasha grunted; yet his eyes refused to obey his command, his lids too heavy to open. He lay on ground that felt like it was on fire; he winced as it burnt his skin, scorching against the large, blusterous sores that still covered his body.

Then as in the distance, he heard a voice. "INUYASHA!"

"_Ka-go-me,"_ Inuyasha thought; the pain in his body was making it difficult to think clearly.

But, somehow superseding the pain of his body, fear began to flood his mind. He could hear the demon's voice in his head: _Perhaps after you are dead I will track down that girl you were with. _He saw the demon's eyes glow with malicious glee. _I miss the pathetic screams of a woman._

"_Th-e de-mon_," he thought, "_Ka-go-me, I can't le-t h-im hurt her."_

Suddenly, shame filled his mind; how could he loose to such a demon? And now all he could do was lie here while the demon took Kagome's life as well.

"_Kagome!"_ He screamed into his mind; this time the pain seemed to lessen to allow adequate thought.

Somewhere he could hear her cry out his name again. Never had he heard her sound so desperate.

In his mind he saw the demon shoot out a wave of flesh-tearing daggers straight at her as she raced towards him. His mind seemed to focus in on her face, her blue eyes growing large with fear and panic as the fangs entered her skin.

"_Kagome!"_ His entire mind was filled with concern for her, yet his body seemed to be beyond his command now.

"_Dammit," _He screamed into his mind again, _"Kagome, I can't loose you!"_

Then he felt it; tiny hands were pressing against his body. It felt like they were heaven-sent, gently pressing soothing palms against the sores, easing away the pain.

In a haze, Inuyasha began to gain his vision, yet it was the world as he had never seen it before. The entire earth seemed to be covered in a thick mist, but the strangest thing was that everything looked drained of color, as if the world existed forever in state of gray.

Despite hearing Kagome's voice, Inuyasha saw no humans (nor did he even see the demon) around him; he was all alone in the clearing under a sky of various shades of gray.

Then he felt the hands pressing harder against him. Now it was becoming uncomfortable; it seemed as if they were trying to push him out of his own skin.

At last he saw them. They were tiny, imp-like creatures; their entire bodies no bigger than about the size of his arm. They seemed to be the only color in the gray world; they had green skin and wore dullish, blue-gray robes. They kept pushing at his skin, until he felt himself begin to move.

The hands had pushed him several paces away when he realized something strange. His physical body hadn't moved at all.

When he looked back, he could see the tip of his forehead as if his eyes had suddenly jumped further up on his head. But it was not his eyes that had moved for then he could clearly see his face, as if he was simply observing it. His eyes were still shut; blood—which looked more like chocolate syrup due to its grayish-black color—trailed from his nose; his mouth was partially opened.

Oh gods; he was dying!

Somewhere in his mind he continued to hear Kagome crying out to him. She was definitely crying; he had never heard her sound so distraught.

"_Th-at bas-t-ard"_ Inuyasha thought, _"Ka-go-m-e!"_ Besides the pain, another force was making it almost impossible for him to think now; it was as if he was being sucked down a drain little by little, starting with his feet; he felt a body part slowly going numb, before he lost feeling in it completely.

"_I'm n-o-t gon-na l-et th-at ba-sta-rd k-ill he-r!"_ Inuyasha tried to hang on to the last threads of his life, yet the hands had become violent now and were roughly forcing his soul out of his body with a strength that seemed otherworldly.

"_No-o-o!"_ Inuyasha cried, _"Ka-go-me!"_

Images of his life began to flood his mind: he was resting up on a tree branch watching her below as she sat on the bank of a stream wading her bare feet in the water; the hot, summer sun bearing down on them; the day made pleasant by a cool, gentle breeze; then, her eyes met his and she smiled at him; he felt his cheeks reddened.

Then the peaceful summer day faded and he found himself on what looked to be an edge of a cliff; he saw her petite frame in front and slightly to the left of him, she was aiming her bow, her arm pulling back on the string as she released an arrow; uniformly he heard himself yell _Wind Scar!_; with his eyes he followed the funnel of wind highlighted by a purplish glow coming her sacred arrow which led the path; he watched it collide with its target, a large, sea snake demon; he heard her say _we did it;_ his mind seemed to make her turn to face him in slow motion, her soft, raven hair spilling across her face before it swung back over her shoulder.

Then the cliff scene in his mind evaporated and he found himself in what looked to be a girl's bedroom, covered in various shades of pink; before him he saw her quickly pulling up a knee-length, white sock before stepping into a black shoe; her green shirt swaying slightly as she swung her backpack over her left shoulder. She ran for the door, then pausing slightly, turned towards him; she waved a quick goodbye; he found himself running to the window and looking out just to see her running off to go to that place she called _school_; loneliness had swarmed his senses then; instantly he had missed her.

But then he saw her lying on her bed as if she had never left, a large, fat, orange and brown, tabby cat was lying across her lap; he felt a sort of envy towards the cat then; how he longed to lay his head in her lap; to breathe in the sweet smell of her hair, a jasmine scent that tantalized his senses.

Suddenly he was out in the forest; he saw steam rising from above the nearby rocks; Miroku was at his side; the monk's eyes were large as he whispered _come on, just a peak, it will be well worth the punishment; _he heard himself reject the idea calling the monk a _lecherous pervert_, yet inside he ached to see Kagome; he found himself heading down towards the rocks; then peering over the boulders, he saw her, bare shoulders exposed in the hot springs; Sango and Shippou beside her but he hardly noticed them; her cheeks were slightly flustered from the heat; then he heard Sango's voice cry out _perverted monk!;_ he saw Kagome spin around to face him, their eyes met, his breathe caught in his chest; at that moment he had wanted her far more than he thought possible.

At that moment he saw Shippou run up to him and grab a shish kebab from right out of his hand; he was no longer by a hot spring, this time he was outside of Keade's hut; annoyance had filled his mind; he saw himself grabbing Shippou up by the handle of his fluffy tail and shaking him; he heard Shippou cry out in frustration and pain; then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kagome; a devious thought had crossed his mind; a smirk came across his face; he longed to tease her, to have her upset at him; he wanted to see her eyes crinkle slightly like they did when she got angry; the gleam of fury in her big blue eyes; then he saw her before him; her once calm face forming into that expression that he secretly found adorable; then he heard her cry out _SIT!_; he felt himself fall to the ground; Shippou falling out of his grasp.

Like a rushing torrent more memories of her began to flood his mind; frame after frame at an astonishing pace. He heard her laugh; he saw her cry; he felt the warmth of her body as she lay against his shoulder while they stayed up late around the campfire.

It was then that he felt a new emotion: regret.

Images of Kagome being always so close resurfaced in his head. She was always so near to him, and yet he tried so hard to push her away. There had been many opportunities where he could have told her how he felt; yet he always ended up closing off to her, instead of opening up to her.

For a moment he remembered when he had almost kissed her, then up on that hill. She had turned a pretty shade of pink as their eyes had met. Even when she had become embarrassed and had tried to push him away he should have kissed her anyway (he knew she had wanted him too, but somehow he just couldn't).

He truly was a coward.

Oh, gods. Why didn't he ever tell her that he loved her? Now he would never have the chance to kiss her, to make love to her….

And now she too would here die; Inuyasha had failed her in almost every aspect; he had failed to tell her that he loved her, and finally he had failed to protect her.

The more the hands pushed at his soul, the less he felt the physical pain his body was in.

Yet, he continued to fight against them as they tried to push him away; despite the fact that he was in pain, at least he could still hear Kagome. Somehow he had to get back to her; he wasn't ready to die yet.


	4. The One to Slay You

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha – obviously…

Warning: Language and violence (just to be sure)

Author's Note: This is the last chapter of the story, so you can all have closure (yay for that, huh).

Thanks: Again thanks to all who read, favorited me or the story, and lastly all of the people who reviewed (YAY)! You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for commenting. It's nice to know that people were actually interested in my story; makes me feel good as an author. It has been such a wonderful experience posting this. Plus, now I feel more comfortable posting stories here in general, and I can't wait to keep adding more stories. Thanks for all of the support. Enjoy the last chapter.

Criticism: Having rarely shared my stuff, except for some writing classes in college, I have to wonder how my writing comes across to other people. Do I suck or am I passable? Or maybe I'm "salvageable" with some few pointers. There is even the possibility that perhaps I'm pretty good; but either way I really am curious just what you guys think. However, I won't demand reviews; so I'll say again, please feel free to review at your own leisure. And thanks again for reading. As always though, all criticism is welcomed no matter how frank it may be. So feel free to tell me what you honestly think. Do note that I will make revisions to this document if anyone finds errors; so it's not too late even though I have posted, so please tell me if something is off. Thanks again.

* * *

**The End**

**Chapter 4: The One to Slay You.**

"Kirara," Kagome called out to the demon cat, "Let me down!"

The last pieces of the demon had been blown away by the wind; Sesshoumaru could be seen still holding up his sword.

Kirara quickly came to rest on the ground. Kagome wasted no time; she sprang off of the cat and raced towards Inuyasha.

"INUYASHA!"

Coming to about a half a meter away from him, Kagome slowed in her steps as the seriousness of his condition began to dawn upon her.

Inuyasha was lying on his back; his breathing was faint. Every so often his body would uncontrollably shake. Kagome could see large, blusterous sores covering his body; she was looking directly down at him now. Being this close she could hear a slight hissing sound coming from the sores. His body reeked of the combined smell of sickening sweet myrrh and rotting flesh.

Large tears began to fill up inside her eyes until they leaked down her cheeks.

"Inuyasha," She whispered.

Miroku arrived at her side; Shippou perched upon the monk's shoulder. Miroku quickly turned Shippou's head away after he saw the potently disturbing condition Inuyasha was in.

Yet, Kagome did not turn to them; stepping forward she sunk down to her knees; Inuyasha lay several centimeters away from her.

Then, from beneath his mostly shredded fire-fat hitoe, Kagome saw what looked like serpents swimming underneath Inuyasha's skin. Every now and then they would race across an area of his skin where a sore was and then Kagome could see the true form of the "serpent" was really more of a fang. It was these things, along with the rotting sores, that were killing Inuyasha.

Hesitantly, Kagome's hand reached out to touch Inuyasha. His skin felt extremely hot to the touch; she could feel his heart pulsing rapidly. She could also feel the fangs moving about, and the pace the decay was occurring in the sores all over his body. Then a pulse reverberated from the palm of her outstretched hand. Instantly, the pulse spread throughout his body coating his skin in a purplish color. The hissing sounds coming from within the sores stopped; the smell of myrrh and rotting flesh beginning to dissipate.

"Huh?" Kagome said; could she be purifying Inuyasha's wounds?

Sesshoumaru looked over to where Kagome knelt; somehow the girl was managing to purify the decaying-flesh miasma that had engulfed Inuyasha's body. But what was even more amazing was that she was undoing the flesh-fangs. Sesshoumaru had known something was strange about this girl from the moment she had been able to draw the Tetsusaiga from its resting place in his father's tomb when neither himself nor Inuyasha had been able to do so.

Meanwhile, Kagome still kept her hand on Inuyasha. Suddenly, the flesh-fangs were being drawn out of his body: the many daggers shooting upward to the surface of his skin and forcing their way out, only to fall to the ground after exiting his skin. Still unconscious, Inuyasha drew in a sharp breath.

Kagome gasped; she had tried to help Inuyasha but she had just ended up causing him more pain.

Inuyasha softly exhaled and his breathing stopped altogether.

Kagome backed away; shaking her head. "No." she muttered.

Sesshoumaru could hear his brother's heartbeat slowly come to a stop. He continued to stare at the scene before him, having not moved from his spot since replacing his sword.

Miroku dropped to one knee; his head bent down, his bangs hanging over his eyes. Softy he whispered something that sounded like a prayer.

Shippou, who now could look at Inuyasha freely without Miroku trying to shield him, burst into tears. "Inuyasha!" he cried, and buried his head into his tiny palms.

At that moment, from out of the woods, two women approached both wearing uniforms similar to ninja gear.

"Inuyasha," one of the women said. Sesshoumaru recognized her as Sango the demon slayer, the other female companion that traveled with his brother's group. He was unfamiliar with the second woman; she only stared at Inuyasha, a scowl appearing on her face.

Kagome was shaking, the sobs racking her small body uncontrollably.

"Oh God, no, Inuyasha!" Kagome reached out and pulled his shoulders into an embraced, resting his head in her lap. "Inuyasha, please," Kagome said, her voice just a whisper, "Don't leave me; please not yet."

Gently she rocked him back and forth; her green skirt and white shirt were stained with his blood where she held him against her. Currently no more blood flowed from his wounds; Inuyasha was truly dead.

Sango raced over to Kagome, stopping when she reached Miroku, she sunk down onto her knees as well. Sango rested her head against Miroku's shoulder, leaning on the one not taken by Shippou. Silent tears began to leak out of her tightly closed eyes, soaking into the monk's robes.

"I want to stay by your side, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered again, still rocking his lifeless body back and forth. "Please, Inuyasha—_my_ Inuyasha—don't leave me."

The other woman slowly approached the sorrowful group; she had a large bruise covering her left eye in the shape of a fist. "Kagome," Sesshoumaru heard her whisper.

The second woman looked if she would go over to the group as Sango had done, but instead she stopped right above the place where his brother's sword lay. Her eyes seemed to covet it; her fingers tentatively reaching for it, yet her arms stayed at her sides. Then she seemed to notice Sesshoumaru. He stared ahead; not looking at her or the Tetsusaiga abandoned on the floor.

* * *

Tekyou desired the sword; at first it was this sword that had drew her to seek for Inuyasha and his group. While traveling with this group she had tried to steal it without being noticed, but though no one suspected her intentions the sword had been always out of her reach. Now however it was lying right there unprotected on the floor. Unnoticed by everyone except for the strange, stoic dog-demon, which Tekyou thought must have defeated the demon fighting Inuyasha.

"_So this is Inuyasha's older brother, huh?" _Tekyou pondered. _"Unlike Inuyasha he is a full-blooded demon."_

Instantly she hated him; too much he seemed to remind her of Inuyasha. His face, so stoic and calm, seemed to be quietly mocking her of his superiority.

"_All demons must eventually suffer the same fate," _Tekyou thought, glancing quickly over at Inuyasha before her gaze returned to the sword. She still hoped for the day when the world would be free of the demon population as well as their half-demon relations. This was why she needed the sword; it was said that the Tetsusaiga could be used to slay one hundred demons in one swipe.

She thought of taking the sword and running off into the woods; everyone other than the brother were mourning over that damn half-breed's death.

"Good riddance to him," Tekyou murmured; the older demon just kept staring ahead; she hoped he heard her, and knew he had given his magnified hearing.

No more hesitation she was going to take the sword; slowly she edged her way closer to grab it. Suddenly, his gaze shifted until he was looking directly at her. Something in this gaze seemed to frighten her; even if she was ashamed to admit it.

Quickly glancing away from him, she abandoned the sword and headed over to the group, stopping when she was several meters behind Kagome, at an angle so she could see the girl's face. Seeing the seventeen-year-old girl in such a state of distress made Tekyou feel the first signs of sadness. Not for Inuyasha, but for Kagome. In truth, she was glad that Inuyasha had died instead of being allowed to live and eventually taint Kagome with his children. A sad truth that Tekyou knew would come to be if Inuyasha and Kagome had been allowed to remain together.

Tekyou had tried desperately to get in between the couple whenever she had been given a chance; yet, surprisingly they had shared a bond that Tekyou could not break. Snorting, Tekyou studied Kagome; she truly was beautiful, even while her tears soaked her face and the shortness of breath from crying had turned her cheek's slightly red.

"_But now, Kagome will be free to love another,"_ thought Tekyou. It had been because of Kagome that Tekyou had never been able to leave the group. This perhaps had stopped her from trying too hard to steal the Tetsusaiga, as well. Yes, she had admitted to herself that night while every one slept around the campfire, with the exception of the half demon, that she had loved Kagome, and that somehow she had to win Kagome's love in return.

"_Now,"_ Tekyou couldn't help but think, _"Being finally rid of that bastard Inuyasha, perhaps Kagome will be free to give her heart to me."_

* * *

Sesshoumaru watched the strange woman walk past him; he knew she was interested in the Tetsusaiga. It amused him that she thought that she, a mere mortal woman, was worthy of his father's sword.

Sesshoumaru began to approach the group. He could see small green creatures forming on top of Inuyasha's body. This was no different than what occurred to the countless other dead bodies that he had seen as they were being prepared for death. Having the ability to use the Tenseiga, the sword of healing, Sesshoumaru was able to see these soul-gathering imps which sent the soul of the deceased into the next life. And, even slay the imps if he so choose in order to bring the recently departed back to life.

It was still nighttime; two more hours to go until sunrise.

Again his attention turned to Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru had always planned on killing his younger brother from the moment he learned of his existence. He had been far too busy to hunt his brother down, yet he knew that he would eventually kill him. But now, that he looked down at his brother's lifeless frame—the girl still crying and rocking him in her arms, the others silently mourning around them—Sesshoumaru strangely felt nothing. No satisfaction that the brother—the living abomination crossed between a demon and a human—was dead.

"_Perhaps it is because he died at the hands of such a lowly demon."_ Sesshoumaru thought.

Sesshoumaru approached the group closer until he stood above Kagome, who still clung to the lifeless shell of his brother, rocking him back and forth as she sobbed.

Inuyasha's death was so similar to his father's death; Sesshoumaru snorted. His father had been the great Inu no Taisho; the dog-demon lord who ruled the western lands, and yet he had died at the hands of a lowly human. Again Sesshoumaru couldn't help thinking, "_I should have been the one to end my father's life; giving him a truly honorable death."_

Despite Inuyasha being half demon, he was still Sesshoumaru's brother; a direct descendant of their great father.

Sesshoumaru thought, "_He deserved to die at the hands of a much greater foe; at my own hands would have been more appropriate."_

Just then, Kagome noticed Sesshoumaru standing above her. Slowly she looked up; and her large, watery eyes still soaked with tears, hardened.

"See, you've gotten what you've always wanted." Kagome said, her voice starting out just below a whisper and growing in intensity, "Every time you saw him you tried to kill him; to you he was worth nothing, but not to me…" Here her voice trailed off.

Then she let go of Inuyasha and gently laid him down upon the floor. Suddenly she was on her feet, challenging Sesshoumaru, her blue eyes glaring up at him in defiance.

"To me he wasn't just a half-demon; he was my friend!" Kagome broke down sobbing; involuntarily grabbing onto Sesshoumaru's robes for support, she kept muttering. "You always told him he was nothing; everyone did…but I loved him…" Sesshoumaru only stared down at her with the same stoic expression on his face.

Miroku had raised his head. Gently he rose, causing Sango to release her head from his shoulder and Shippou to look up from beneath his hands.

"Kagome-sama." Miroku's voice was gentle and soft. He pulled Kagome off of Sesshoumaru's robes, which was easy; she just fell against Miroku's chest and sobbed harder.

Just then Sesshoumaru approached Inuyasha. The sound of his sword being drawn caused Kagome to look up. Yet her eyes were so blurry with tears that she could not tell which sword he was holding over Inuyasha.

"What are you doing?" Kagome said, "Leave him alone; do you need to stab him yourself before you are satisfied?"

Not surprisingly, Sesshoumaru ignored her.

"Kagome-sama," Miroku cut in, "Just watch." The monk had seen Sesshoumaru clearly draw the Tenseiga, the sword which was used to bring the dead back to life. Sango looked quickly over to Miroku; she too was thinking the same thing. Was Sesshoumaru really going to restore Inuyasha's soul back to life?

* * *

Inuyasha's life was mostly drained away; he could feel nothing from his body…only pieces of his mind remained.

"_Kagome."_ His voice was barely audible, even in his mind. He could see his body as in the distance laying there on the clearing, alone, except for the green imps which kept pressing their hands against him. His mind was mostly quiet; only occasional sounds from the outside world registered in here. For a moment he thought he heard a sob, as if someone was wailing somewhere very far away.

The remainder of his mind began to fade; the last of his memories quickly draining away as if they were water through a strainer. Her face was the last to remain… and her name. He could no longer fight the enviable; _"Kagome, forgive me."_

An instant before he was about to fade away into nothingness, he heard a swiping sound, as if the air around him had been cut in half. The imps that could be seen surrounding his body were sliced into pieces. Then, it was as if an invisible hand reached down and pulled his consciousness back from the void that surrounded him. A firm hand, upon whose touch seemed to return his memories, which flooded his mind in such a rate that they seemed to be one, incoherent blur. Suddenly, voices could be heard; first the voices sounded small and incoherent as if he was approaching them from a great distance, then they became clearer and louder.

"Inuyasha; he's breathing again." It was definitely Kagome's voice. She sounded relieved; but more importantly to him, she sounded safe and alive. Somehow the demon must have been defeated; somehow the demon had been unable to harm her.

"Ka-go-me?" Inuyasha muttered; his eyes slowly opened. Surrounding him, were the four familiar faces of his friends. Kagome was the closest; tears were falling from her cheeks.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, "You're alive!" She threw her arms around him; instantly he smelt her scent and felt the warmth of her body against him.

"Kagome," Inuyasha whispered. He buried his head into her hair; gingerly he wrapped his arms around her.

"Inuyasha!" A high voice cried out from above and soon Kagome wasn't the only one who was hugging him. Shippou had flung himself at Inuyasha and Kagome; he landed on Inuyasha's shoulder and hugged his small arms around the side of Inuyasha's face.

"Thank God." He heard Miroku say. From the corner of his eye, Inuyasha saw Sango kneel down at his side, resting one hand on his back and the other on Kagome's.

Just then, Inuyasha heard Miroku say, "Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Inuyasha paused; yanking his head up, he saw Miroku come up from a bow towards the direction of his brother's retreating back.

"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha said; his abrupt movements had caused Kagome to let go of him and Shippou to fall off of his shoulder to the ground.

"Yes," Miroku replied to his unasked question, "It was Sesshoumaru who destroyed that demon, and then he used the Tenseiga to restore you back to life."

Inuyasha paused for a moment. At first, doubt flooded his mind then it turned into anger. Surprising the four surrounding him, Inuyasha jumped up and shouted at Sesshoumaru's retreating back.

"What the hell was that about, Sesshoumaru?!"

Sesshoumaru paused in his steps, yet he didn't turn around.

Kagome got to her feet too and tried to grab his arm ("Inuyasha," She started to say), but Inuyasha shoved her off and went after Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru still hadn't turned around. Inuyasha had come to a stop several paces behind his brother. The sudden burst of adrenaline had caused Inuyasha to ignore the weak state his body was in. However, once his body stopped moving Inuyasha's strength gave out and he fell to his knees.

"That would have been a fuckin' good time to off me, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha said, his face scowling. His voice sounded as if he had his half-demon super strength and was holding his fully-transformed Tetsusaiga straight over a cowering Sesshoumaru, instead of reflecting the state he was actually in: a human barely able to hold himself up on his knees, weaponless and daring to accuse a particularly deadly, full-demon assassin.

"Did you want to die, little brother?" Sesshoumaru said; his back still to Inuyasha, his voice stoic yet there was no denying the silent threat that promised eminent death laced in between those words.

Kagome raced after Inuyasha, brushing past a shocked Tekyou.

Turning around Sesshoumaru approached him; in the process he had drawn the Toukijin, and had aimed the sword directly at Inuyasha until it rested several inches above his throat. For the first time since being on his knees, Inuyasha felt the pain caused by lying on the open sores covering his legs. He drew in a sharp breath.

"For it was not death you chose then," Sesshoumaru stated in his stoic voice, still containing a deadly edge. "But that girl."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome at this point had reached Inuyasha and had thrown herself against his back; wrapping her arms around his chest and hugging tightly to him.

Inuyasha looked visibly startled by Sesshoumaru's statement; the scowl on his face fading; his hand covered one of Kagome's hands as if by instinct.

"Please, Inuyasha," Kagome said, "Don't do this."

Inuyasha's eyes found the pebbles on the floor, as if unable to look up; questions had begun to fill his mind. Had Sesshoumaru heard his thoughts in the last moments before he thought he was going to die? Was that why Sesshoumaru had helped him? Even the thought of this was so contrast to the older brother that Inuyasha was used to dealing with. But when he looked up again, he saw Sesshoumaru's retreating back.

"Besides, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said, his voice still stoic, but this time it contained no edge to it, "It is I who shall be the one to slay you."

* * *

Author's Conclusion: Well, that's it. Tell me what you think! Again, thanks for reading.


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